The article descibes the folly of entreching oneself in meaningless camps, not of your own choosing, that are no longer relevant to one's daily life and purpose.

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Are you a blue sheep or a red sheep?

Blowing across the land, I stopped to listen to groups of sheep, discussing which of them made the better mutton chops. They were the old guard and they argued trying to convince each other that the blue made better legs of lamb and were sought after by more people than the red. The red argued that they had less fat and therefore made the healthier meal.

The arguments blew back and forth, while the young blue and red lambs gamboled amongst them, bleating and playing enjoying life. One stopped to ask his elder

Doesn't that mean we have to die and get chopped up to prove who is right and that must be painful?

The older sheep said that is the way for sheep.

But surely we are more important than our bodies?

The young one insisted. Is there not some higher purpose? Should we not be looking for that instead of arguing over the fat content of our bodies?

The older red and blue sheep both bleated, you really don't understand about life. Run away and play. That is what lambs do.

The lambs obeyed, gamboling away with all the joy of the young, unfettered by the chains of the older sheep.

The red and blue sheep herds lined up again each pitting their wit to convince each that pound for pound, they were the superior taste. The blue said that he had overheard the master say that wool from blue sheep kept the cold out better than the red sheep's wool. The red argued that their coats were more waterproof.

A pack of grey wolves swept over the hill top, killing the older sheep as they stood almost immobile, trying desperately to convince the other sheep that they were the best for the slaughterhouse.

The young lambs ran away bleating in terror, managing to go straight through the barbed wire fences that a moment ago had seemed so impenetrable. They ran until they were far away in the open country side.

One lamb bleated what were those terrible things that had killed the older sheep.

One said they were wolves.

Another said they were our masters.

Another asked were they not the same thing?

A fourth pumped with adrenalin, said that they should keep moving.

They fled into the hills and joined up with other wild sheep. Their lives were precarious, but meaningful. They understood, with time that to live, one had to earn that reward and that was the reward-life.

The wolves ate the whole day, filling their bellies until they were satisfied.

What do you think they meant when they said blue and red sheep?

They were not blue or red.

I think it was a clan thing.

Another said, did you taste any difference between the two kinds?

No they tasted the same to me.

But were some fatter, juicier?

I could not tell.

Were the bones, softer or their marrow different?

They seemed the same to us.

Surely there must have been a difference, they were prepared to die for their convictions, ignoring the rule of "Safety First."

Another said sleepily, they were sheep, I think rather silly sheep, but I enjoyed every bit of them.

Let us rest here. It is so peaceful.

Let us move on, I feel a presence. I cannot stay.

He and another she wolf left hurrying towards the red setting sun, but looking back to the blue-grey skies of approaching dusk.They quickened their pace.

The others dozed sleepily.

The shepherds drove the new electric vehicles and stopped far from their farm when they smelt blood in the air that told them all was not well.

The two unslung their rifles and moved efficiently and quietly across the land. They had been at war before, but this was a different war. This one had meaning.

On the crest of the hill lying flat, they shot the six remaining wolves that hardly moved when they heard the first crack. "Safety First" thought the old leader as he died.

What a mess said the first shepherd.

You're right said the second, I think that was the last wolf pack in the land.

Really.

Yes.

Mmm.

Our environmentally friendly status is gone for certain.

Maybe.

Will you replace the red and blue flocks with your insurance payout?

No, I never liked either. I'm thinking of that new purple hybrid of the two. And you?

I think I'll go back to hunting people. There are more of them and the pay is better. I can't decide between South America and Africa. Maybe Africa, this time with those new oilfields opening up.

I hear wolves are good eating. Let's not waste these, the last in the land.

They roasted the largest over an open campfire that night.

They both agreed it beat eating red or blue sheep. The meat was tougher, not at all juicy, with a sinewy texture. Its wildness seemed to give new resolve to the two men. They saw their future more clearly. It would be wild, uncluttered, dangerous, uncertain and new.

I blew on. I carry these many stories with me and if you listen in absolute silence, you too can hear them, in the red heat of the day or in the cool blue nights of winter.

Write them down. They loose something in rigidity, but flowing together in the air, they all seem the same to me.

Chris Landau

October 13, 2011   

Authors Bio:

I was born in South Africa in 1958. I came to the USA with my wife and three daughters in 2003. We became US citizens in 2009 and 2010. My wife Susan is a Special Education English Teacher. She has a bachelor's degree in Micro anatomy and biochemistry. I have two daughters at university and one in the tech world. I am lucky to be surrounded by such talented women.

I am a vegetarian and enjoy growing trees, vegetables and plants from seed.

My interests lie in astronomy, meteorology, geology and biology.
In astronomy, I am interested in dimensions, the speed of electromagnetic radiation in different density conditions, redshift, magnetism associated with rings of planets and stars, black holes and contracting galaxies and the rotation of the universe.

In September 2010 I presented three new concepts on our Earth, our Sun and the planets and stars that surround us. The American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) published my ideas on October 4, 2010 on Planetary-Spin heat relationships, Jupiter-Saturn-Solar Tidal-Sunspot coupling and Planetary-Solar alternating magnetic fields. The paper can be found at the AIPG website at:

http://www.aipg.org/Events/2010 Annual Meeting/final papers.htm

In meteorology, my interests lie in long-range hourly weather forecasts through tidal and magnetic forces for both convectional and cyclonic rainfall.

In geology, my interests are in the inorganic origin of oil, gas and coal, under reducing conditions, through hydrogen sulfide and water acting on coal, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide and calcareous formations. My chemical and thermodynamic equations to prove how this occurred have been published.
As a geologist, I delivered two peer reviewed presentations to prove the theory, one to the Association of Engineering and Environmental Geologists in 2008 (AEG).

http://www.aegweb.org/files/public/abstracts.pdf, page 17.

The other was to The American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG)

AIPG 2009 Geology and Resources Conference
Grand Junction, CO
October 3-7, 2009
Proceedings Page 93

http://aipg.org/Events/pastmeeting.htm

These publications include methods of carbon capture that help generate new energy and make carbon dioxide a reusable resource. Understanding fracking by water is when hydrogen is added to carbon through the coal gas, Fischer Tropsch and Wurtz syntheses. Fracking is chemical Cracking and Fractional distillation in situ. It is making oil and gas by adding hydrogen to carbon. It is not hydraulic fracturing of rock.

My other interests are in the driving forces for continental drift, "magnetic rock vortices".

I enjoy growing my own fruit trees and vines and hope to be self-sufficient one day.
I hope that the world will one day all be vegetarians. I believe we can only truly respect ourselves and the other animals if we do not see them as a food source. No human being likes the thought of being eaten by animals. Animals should not be raised as a protein source.

I would like to see the oil, gas and coal being recycled daily, so no carbon dioxide or other pollutants are released into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide can be reduced back to methane under reducing conditions.
Solar power should be stepped up in a huge way to create clean renewable energy for the world. Desalination of seawater by solar power is the long-term solution to our water needs and our food production. Education to limit global population growth is vital to have sustainable resources for the world and its animals.
I look forward to mutually beneficial relationships that exploit neither party.

Chris Landau